All The Difference
by Sidney Ella Ford
Summary: After Breaking Dawn, Embry and Leah are becoming close friends. Embry is accepting who he is, Leah is becoming who she was, and together they are facing their pasts, presents, and futures.  Post BD/Friendship/Future Romance/R


**My first attempt at an Embry/Leah. This is pretty heavy friendship, romance later. Thanks to my beta, **notquiteblond31**, who actually pushed me to write this and oh-so-graciously to take the job only one other person has ever dared to take. I know Leah is pretty OOC, but hopefully it'll make sense as you read along. R&R!**

The warm rays of sunlight tickled the back of my neck. The sunlight, which was a rarity on the Olympic Peninsula, woke me up. I slowly lifted my head, looked around my room, and then rolled over and sat up. My room was that of a preteen girl. There were frosty purple walls, pink pouf beanbag chairs, and sunny yellow bedding. It amused me, how girly I had been a mere ten years previous. In my few angst ridden teen years, I felt no need to change it. I figured I could keep up the 'old Leah' act, leaving everything the same, so now, at about twenty, I had the room of a ten year old. I slowly got out of bed and traveled down the hall, past my sleeping brother's room, and to the small kitchen of the house.

"You're up early," my mother observed, as I passed her to the refrigerator.

"You were out late," I said, throwing a smirk over her shoulder. A few months ago, I might have said it bitterly, but today, it was a playful tone.

"Charlie took me to Port Angeles," the older woman said, smiling. "He'd made reservations at a little oriental restaurant."

"And then?" I pressed, pulling out the milk. Hmm, Seth didn't drink it all already.

My mother laughed. "We're not exactly the young vivacious teenagers we're raising," she said. "Dinner was enough."

"So how long did this dinner take?" I moved to the cabinet to find cereal.

"The maître d' informed us that they were going to be closing in ten minutes, after we'd been there for three hours."

Both of our laughter filled the room.

"I'm so happy for you, Mom," I said, sitting down at the table with her breakfast. "Dad would be, too."

Mom, smiling softly. "It's only been a year and a half. Do you think he'd be upset with me?"

I put the spoon, laden with her first bite, back into the bowl, then covered my mother's hand with my own. "No, he loved you, and Charlie was one of his best friends. I think that he'd be fine. You both needed someone, anyway. Who knows, maybe it's what he wanted all along."

Mom nodded slowly, then her smile grew. "I missed you, Lee."

"What do you mean?"

"I missed you being to bright and happy," she said softly. "I owe Jacob."

I smirked, then softened a little. "Jacob _thinks_ it's his doings. I'm sorry for the last few years, Mom."

"Don't be, sweetheart. I'm so happy you gave him a chance."

"Me too."

A knock came from the front door. "Speaking of him…"

"Mom!" I laughed. I stood up and rushed to answer the door. I opened it and revealed the source of my newfound happiness. "Hey, Embry."

His smile was contagious as he walked into my house, straight to me kitchen, of course. I closed the door and followed him, my own smile lighting up my face. It was almost sickening, how quickly I'd evolved from a bitchy she-demon to this…old me. The way I was before Sam and Emily and werewolves. I'd been trying for a long while to go back to my old personality. It was hard to be positive and kind when I knew so much pain and sorrow. It was a true struggle, then Embry Call waltzes in and things start to get better. In the last three months, after the almost-battle with the royal bloodsuckers, I'd really gotten to know him. Jacob didn't think constant patrols were necessary, but he couldn't drop his sense of impending doom if one of us were to run alone, so Embry and I had been thrown together a lot. Quil had Claire to work around, Jacob had the kid with the name I couldn't pronounce (but that he called Nessie), and Seth had a standing curfew. I was a legal adult and Embry was a clean slate, so we ended up together on most runs. We'd had a rocky relationship in years past, what with his absentie father and trampy mother, and my broken heart and princess of darkness attitude, but working so close made me see a side of him that I hadn't known. He was really understanding, kind, and a really fun person to be around. We'd started hanging out more and more off patrol, and had even had a few movie or beach dates. He was quickly becoming my best friend, and-from what I picked from his thought on patrol-he thought the same of me.

"Hi, Sue," he said, startling me out of my reverie and sitting next to my mother. "How've you been?"

I sat down to my breakfast and listened in on their light conversation. My mother said she was doing fine, she asked Embry what he was planning to do for the weekend, he said hang out at the beach after he and I ran our short patrol. When I'd finished my breakfast and changed into a bathing suit(it would be much easier for carrying, and we were going straight to the beach after, so all the better). I darted down the hall and out the open door, where Embry was saying goodbye to my mother.

"Bye Mom! Remind Seth he's got the graveyard shift with Jake!" I called back, getting a head start in what I knew would be a race to the more heavily wooded area across the road.

Embry followed at my heels, attempting to catch up with me, to no avail. I made it to the dense area first, and hid behind a tree while I listened to him stumble around, calling "Leah? Lee! Where are you?"

I jumped from behind the thick trunk, startling him. "Hey Call."

"Uh, hi Leah," he said, getting a good look at my attire. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"For the beach, duh," I said, rolling my eyes at his stupidity. "What are you looking at?"

"N-nothing," he said, lifting a hand to the back of his neck. "Jake said all we have to do is run the border once, maybe take a detour around the Cullens' place, just to check."

"The Cullens?" I groaned indignantly. "Why? There hasn't been anything in months, and it smells like Clorox and burnt sugar cane."

Embry laughed. "Typical Lee. How about we cut the job in half? You run the south border, I run the shorter border and then the Cullens' place?"

"Thanks Embry," I said, feeling a little guilty for subjecting him to the pungent odor of leech, but too stingy to refuse his offer. "Then we can go to the cliffs."

"Sounds like a plan," he said, grinning. "Well, I'll just go…yeah." He got a little flustered, staring at me again. He jerked his head over his shoulder, then turned and walked through the woods until we couldn't see each other.

I quickly rid myself of my bathing suit, tying the bikini straps around my ankle conveniently, then focusing on phasing. _Where's the heat? Where is it?_ Finally, I was able to draw enough to transform, and then I was crashing through the woods, for the southern border.

Embry ran the other way, singing some song in his head as he went. I wondered what he was doing, until I caught a glimpse of myself in my bikini. He quickly went back to the song, singing it louder.

_What's the deal, Call? _I teased. _I know I'm hot but you've seen me naked. What's so great about a bikini?_

He groaned in his head. _Oh, shut up. And for your information, I tried to at least cover my eyes when you first started phasing._

I laughed in my mind. _I was joking, kid. No need to take it personally._

_Just run,_ he said, embarrassment flooding his mind. _I bet I can finish before you. _

_You're so on! _I dug my heels into the ground pushing myself further and further, to victory. _Loser jumps first._

_Deal_.

We both sped up increasingly, fighting to win.

**A/N: Lame ending, I know, but more soon! Reviews!**

**~Sidney**


End file.
